


To My Valentine

by ididitjustforthis



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Deployment, Established Relationship, F/M, Happy Valentine’s Day, Long-Distance Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29340729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ididitjustforthis/pseuds/ididitjustforthis
Summary: Clay receives a Valentine’s surprise from home.
Relationships: Emma Hayes/Clay Spenser
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	To My Valentine

Of all the times for comms to be down, it had to be today. 

Clay scrubbed his face in frustration as he restarted his computer once more in hopes that his laptop would  _ finally _ connect to the internet for his Skype session with Emma. Deployment was often touch and go when it came to staying connected, mostly because the different time zones made it difficult to synchronize their schedules. Especially when one or both of them were busy. But for Valentine’s Day they had specifically arranged a time to talk to each other, and that window was beginning to close. 

Initially, Clay went to the communications tent to see what the problem was. They were usually told beforehand when the base had to go dark so a sudden outage, while not an anomaly in the middle of the desert, was a pain. Clay’s pacing and intermittent questions (read: demands) did not go unnoticed by the comms officers. Blackburn had been informed post haste of the stir being caused by one of his men. Even dressed down in a Henley and gym shorts, Clay cut an imposing figure with his obvious frustration. Having an operator prowl around like a predator stalking its prey wasn’t going to help anyone figure out the system malfunction. 

Blackburn was quick to intercept and steer Clay’s brooding form back towards Bravo’s designated area. He parked him next to the guys with a firm reminder that, while he understood, harassing the only people currently on base that could make heads or tails of the issue wouldn’t fix it faster. Sonny took the opportunity to tease him about his pouting while the others traded looks of sympathy mixed with amusement. Ray patted his shoulder with a close-lipped smile. He was missing time with his own wife as well.

Clay sat quietly among the chatter and checked his watch frequently. The more time that passed, the more his leg bounced in a subconscious effort to shake off the tension. Frustrated sighs filled the air along with his constant fidgeting and his fingers tapping rapidly against his seat. Eventually Jason banished him to his bunk, claiming Clay was making him feel antsy just looking at him. As a result, he’s sitting at the single desk in the room, hopelessly refreshing his computer for what felt like the hundredth time. 

Just as Clay was contemplating how much trouble he’d be in for pilfering one of the sat phones for an unsanctioned phone call, a knock sounded on the door. A second later it swung open followed by Davis popping her head into the room.

“There you are!” She exclaimed. 

“Here I am.” Clay grumbled and slumped in his chair. He scowled at his laptop. 

“Comms still down?”

“Yeah.” He muttered, kicking at one of the desk legs.

“I’m sure they’ll get it squared away soon.” Davis reassured, though Clay seemed entirely unaffected. She stepped into the room with a tightly taped package that was a little bigger than a shoe box.

“Got something that might cheer you up.” She placed it on the desk next to the computer.

Clay looked at the plain, unmarked box skeptically for a moment before looking up at Davis in question.

“I was explicitly instructed by your Valentine to make sure you got this today.” She nudged it towards him. His defeated posture straightened immediately.

“From Emma?” Clay asked eagerly.

“Mhmm.” She was both entertained by his newfound enthusiasm and pleased to see him perk up after being so down. He fished his switchblade from his pocket, almost fumbling in his hurry to open the surprise. “I’ll let you do this in private, but I expect any goods to be shared seeing as I so graciously smuggled it thousands of miles for you.”

She bumped his shoulder before making her way towards the door. 

“Thanks, Lisa!” He called over his shoulder as she exited. 

Clay moved the laptop over to the edge of the desk, centering the box and slitting the tape to open the lid. His face split in a wide smile as he took in the vacuum sealed package of what could only be Emma’s homemade cookies. A pink envelope addressed to him lay on top. 

He recognized her loopy cursive on the front. Tempted as Clay was to tear into the baked goods, he dutifully followed the instruction she scrawled across the top edge of the card over his name.

‘ _ Read this first! _ ’

Carefully, he used his switchblade as a letter opener, making sure to keep the envelope intact. Inside was a Valentine’s Day card covered in hearts with two cartoon lobsters hugging in the middle. A folded sheet of paper fell into his lap when he opened it. ‘You’re My Lobster!’ was inscribed in metallic red lettering and Emma’s lips were kissed onto the empty space underneath. 

Clay chuckled at seeing the rosy pink shade. Emma has left the same mark on him many times when she would trail nipping kisses down his neck in the way that drove him crazy, or playfully smooching his cheek to blot her lipstick on the occasional morning they could get ready together before going their separate ways for work. In turn, Clay has had the privilege of kissing it from her lips more times than he can remember. Happily so. 

Putting down the card, he plucked up the additional piece of stationary that was previously tucked into the crease. Clay paused in the middle of unfolding it when a familiar scent, light and sweet, wafted from the page. He brought it to his nose and took a deep breath. 

Her perfume. 

He took a moment to savor the heady fragrance before opening it the rest of the way. Clay could see the slight discoloration of paper where she must have spritzed it. He felt like he was going into sensory overload with all these small pieces of Emma; her writing, the shape of her lips, her smell. The anticipation for whatever else could be waiting for him thrummed beneath his skin.

Getting comfortable in his chair, Clay began reading her letter.  
  


_ Clay, _

_ Happy Valentine’s Day!  _

_ Hopefully you’ll be on base and able to open this the day of. A little delay won’t hurt but I’ve so looked forward to this getting to you. Especially because I baked your favorite cookies that you’ve no doubt been missing since you left.  _

_ I know it’s hard to be so far apart on days like this. I’d love nothing more than to celebrate the holiday with you, whether it’s over a romantic candlelit dinner, a walk along the beach, or curling up together on the sofa. But even if we can’t do that this year, I still want to take this time to show you how much I love you.  _

_ I’m hoping the things I’ve included will do just that. _

_ However, there are some rules if you’re willing to play along. Everything in the box is wrapped except for the iPod I sent you. I uploaded all your favorite songs and mine just to give you a taste of home, but if you look at the playlists you’ll notice that I included something extra.  _

Putting down the letter for a moment, Clay took the cookies out of the box and saw underneath were a couple of small wrapped parcels with numbers on them. Next to them was a 3rd generation iPod touch that had a couple nicks and scratches but was otherwise clean. He held down the sleep button to turn it on and found it with a full charge. The background was lit up with a picture of Emma clad in a blue polka dot bikini and kneeling in the sand on the beach while her hair blew in the wind as she smiled into the camera. He remembered taking that picture during one of the Bravo beach BBQ’s. Clay also recalled peeling it off of her as soon as they made it home. 

After making a mental note to check the camera roll for more photos later on, he tapped around the screen to open the playlist section. Under it were ‘ _ Clay’s Favorites _ ’, ‘ _ Songs Emma likes to dance to _ ’, ‘ _ Only listen when I tell you _ ’ and ‘ _ Listen to these when… _’. 

Intrigued, he clicked on the last playlist and scrolled through the titles.

_ You’re in a good mood _

_ You can’t sleep _

_ You need a laugh _

_ Sonny is being annoying _

_ You’ve had a long day _

_ You’re halfway through deployment _

_ You’re overthinking  _

_ You’re feeling naughty _

_ You need a hug _

_ You’re about to come home _

The list kept going but Clay took a moment to pick the letter back up and continue reading.

_ I thought about writing all of these for you, but if you miss my voice as much as I miss yours then I think this will be a much better replacement. I wanted you to have something for every occasion. For the times when you’re happy, or stressed, or bored or even when you just miss me. As for the other gifts, you’ll know when you can open them as well as the hidden gems I’ve got waiting for you on the iPod. _

_ You can listen to these all at once if you want. I won’t know the difference. But I’m hoping you’ll wait until the moment calls for it so I can be there with you and for you when life gets in the way of us connecting face to face. _

_ Everywhere I look in our home there are pieces of you for me to take comfort in until you come back to me. I hope that these will do the same for you until we can be together again. _

_ I miss you with all my heart, Clay. _

_ Love always,  _

_ Emma _

_ P.S. - Check the videos for a Valentine’s surprise  _

Clay had never experienced the sensation of wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. His heart felt so full at the precious gifts she had given him. He hadn’t even opened everything yet but this was more than he could’ve ever asked for or expected. 

Emma was right that he felt tempted to tear into all of it for every part of her he could get. But Clay closed the box and tucked it safely in his locker for a later time. He placed the card and letter next to the computer knowing it would likely be memorized before the week was out. Grabbing the cookies and the iPod, Clay moved to his bunk to enjoy his gifts.

The air was filled with the aroma of chocolate and sugar the moment he slit open the vacuum sealed bag. He groaned as he bit into the cookie, savoring the chocolatey sweet goodness. After wolfing down a couple cookies, Clay plugged his headphones into the iPod and scrolled to the video section. Another burst of excitement shot through him when he could see Emma’s face on the small thumbnail labeled ‘To my Valentine’. Making sure his earbuds were firmly in place, he sat back and pressed play. 

Emma came to life on the screen wearing a sleeveless white dress with small red hearts and a sweetheart neckline that hugged her petite form. Her blonde hair was down with the left side clipped back out of her face to showcase the earrings he’d given her for her birthday while the other side fell in luscious golden waves. Emma’s blue eyes sparkled as she smiled at the camera before she began plucking at the strings of the guitar in her lap and singing. 

_ All that I know _

_ Is you caught me at the right time _

_ Keep me in your glow _

_ 'Cause I'm having such a good time _

_ With you _

_ Baby, don't you know? _

_ That you're my golden hour _

_ The color of my sky _

_ You've set my world on fire _

_ And I know, I know everything's gonna be alright _

The tension he’d been carrying all day drained away with the easy rhythm of the song. Clay was tempted to close his eyes as her sweet voice filled his ears, but nothing short of the iPod being ripped from his grasp could tear his eyes off of her.

_ You make the world look beautiful, oooh _

_ I thought I'd seen it all before _

_ But looking through your eyes _

_ It looks like paradise _

_ You set my world on fire, yeah _

_ And I know, I know everything's gonna be alright _

_ You're my golden hour _

_ The color of my sky _

_ You've set my world on fire _

_ And I know, I know everything's gonna be alright _

_ Yeah I know, I know everything's gonna be alright _

_ Golden hour, mmh _

The hum of her voice trailed off softly as she played out the last chords of the song. Her smile was tender in the moment of silence before she spoke again, softly.

“I love you, Clay Spenser. Happy Valentine's Day!” Emma took her hand from the guitar and blew him a kiss before the video ended with her smiling face frozen on the screen.

The longing he felt was palpable. Getting to see her and hear her, though? He couldn’t have thought of a better gift to get through the struggle of missing her during deployment. 

Clay settled further into his bunk and continued to replay the song until a loud bang on the door had him pulling out his headphones. The next head to pop in was Sonny’s with a wide smirk on his face.

“You can stop your pouting now, Coppertone! Comms are back up so you can ask the princess to be your Valentine properly.” He laughed at his own joke before stopping abruptly and taking a deep breath. Sonny sent a searching look around the room. “Do I smell cookies?”

“Nope!” Clay shoved the baked goods under his blanket and vaulted off the bed towards the desk once more. “Thanks, Son!”

Sonny grunted with a disbelieving look on his face before letting the door slam shut behind him. Clay was going to have to be creative about hiding his stash. Knowing Sonny, he wasn’t above using Pepper to hunt down any and all sweets that were being kept from him. He may have to get one step ahead by bribing Brock to keep her from giving anything away. 

Opening Skype, Clay clicked the call button next to Emma’s contact photo. His fingers were crossed as the dial tone sounded that their time hadn’t run out before he got to see and talk to her properly. Just when he thought they’d lost their chance, the line picked up. After a moment of lag Emma popped into view on his screen. He waited for the delay to catch up on her side as well and when it did, a beaming smile bloomed across her beautiful face.

“Clay.” She breathed.

“Hey, Em.” He grinned. “Sorry it took so long. Communication went down out of nowhere.”

“I understand. I know stuff can happen without warning.” Emma reassured. “But I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” 

“How long do you have?” She bit her lip, looking at the time. 

“Until they pry me away from this computer.” Clay gave a lopsided smile.

He grabbed the card standing upright on the table and held it up for the camera.

“Got your gift. Or gifts I should say.”

Emma dipped her head, bashfully rubbing one of her blushing cheeks against her shoulder. She was adorable. “Do you like it?”

“I love it, Baby.” Clay intoned, happy and sincere. “And I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

She smiled and sighed, pleased at his reaction. Her body curled towards the camera as if to bring her closer to him through their screens. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” __

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not entirely sure how the military works or if I got the terminology correct but try not to hold it against me too much.
> 
> Please leave a review with any feedback or criticism! Kudos are much appreciated as well if you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Side note: the song Emma is singing is ‘Golden Hour’ by Kacey Musgraves if you want to give it a listen


End file.
